Decorating Tips: Head-Turning Walls

Uccelli wallpaper by Fornasetti from Cole & Son

One of the tenets of good interior design is that every room should have a focal point. If you don’t have a natural focal point in your room – like a fireplace or a window with a view – and you don’t have any artwork, try turning your whole wall into a focal point. 

These wallpapers designed by Italian artist, Piero Fornasetti, are conversation-stoppers!  They’re quirky, they’re unique, they’re anything but boring. If you're tired of the usual florals and geometric prints put you to sleep - take a look at these wild patterns. Above in the Uccelli pattern, a flock of birds brighten up a dull hallway.

Cole & Son is reproducing famous designs by Fornasetti and turning them into wallpaper for the home. You have a boring stairway? How about these zebras peering out at you as you climb the stairs?

Procurati wallpaper by Fornasetti from Cole & Son

Nottambule wallpaper by Fornasetti from Cole & Son

If you don’t want the whole wall covered, try a border around the room instead.  Have a hoot with these night owls, the Nottambule wallpaper. And if prints of animals are just not your style, the Teatro wallpaper will take you on a night out on the town.  Theater-goers peer down from their balconies in this wonderful old-style Fornasetti design. Now that's a wall full of drama!

Interested in learning more about wall treatments?  Take a look at Sheffield School's Complete Course in Interior Design.  At Sheffield, you will learn how to transform a space, create color schemes, and select furniture, lighting, and accessories.

Special Effects: Venetian Plaster

(Venetian plaster by Papillon Art Solutions)If you’re ready to graduate to the big league of décor and you want to add that special feature to your interiors, then it’s time to look at Venetian plaster, a special wall treatment technique.  Venetian plaster is one of the oldest wall treatments and has been around as far back as 9500 years.

True Venetian plaster is made of slaked lime mixed with marble dust.  Other “Venetian plasters” sold in the U.S. may be made of other materials that have no lime and may actually be made of acrylic resins.  The true beauty of Venetian plaster is that the plaster layers can be “burnished”, a technique which creates a high polished look, and gives it the sheen and depth that regular paint can’t achieve.  Burnishing requires polishing the final plaster layer with a trowel. 

Above is an example of a stairway in a golden Venetian plaster by Papillon Art Solutions. Below is an example in a rose Venetian plaster.  Notice that when viewed from different angles, light will reflect from the plaster layers. 

You can also use two or more different colors and layer it to achieve a very unique multi-colored depth, as shown above. This technique can mimic the more expensive marbles but at a fraction of the cost!

(Venetian plaster, courtesy of Titus Built)Venetian plaster can be juxtaposed with other painted surfaces for a wonderful contrast effect.  As shown above from Titus Built, the mouldings and dado are covered in white paint which provide a contrast to the sheen of the Venetian plaster above. 

If you want to learn more about Venetian plaster, follow this link for a do-it-yourself approach - you'll see how much goes into this beautiful finishing.

Interested in learning more about wall treatments? Take a look at Sheffield School's Complete Course in Interior Design. At Sheffield, you'll learn how to transform a space, create color schemes, and select furniture, lighting, and accessories.

Wall to Wall Design

(Squares wallcover from Graham and Brown)

Are you tired of looking at wall paint? Do you wish your walls could be livelier, more exciting, more in your face?  If you’re not afraid of shaking things up, then take a look at these paintable, textured wall coverings.

Graham and Brown offers their paintable Squares and Pure wallpapers.  Squares shows off a dynamic geometric pattern that can be left white or painted in fun colors as seen behind the bookcase above.  Pure wallpaper is a curvaceous choice that creates an elegant background. 

(Pure wallcover from Graham and Brown)(Architect Wall Flat from Inhabit)For an even more dimensional wallcover, we have the wall flat series from Inhabit.  Above is the Architect wallcover which is made from bagasse, a fibrous matter left over after sugarcane stalks have been crushed.  It is lightweight and recyclable. Below is the Drift wallcover, a design that hints at slender tree limbs. 

(Drift Wall Flat from Inhabit)Besides providing visual punch to your walls, these wallcovers are perfect for covering flawed walls.  If you have uneven walls and you do not want to replaster them – a process that can take several days of application – then these textured wallcovers will hide the imperfections.